Alison Moyet, like most artists of her generation, rose to fame using a synthesized musical palette, before ultimately choosing to work with a flash-and-bone band. Her return to a keyboard-focused sound, however, has proven to be triumphal — a culmination of everything she began as part of Yaz with Depeche Mode’s Vince Clarke but, at the same time, something brand new.
“Horizon Flame,” a key track from Moyet’s forthcoming minutes and seconds – live, illustrates the point, as her darkly alluring contralto works in brilliant contrast over a synthpop music bed created by MD John Garden and Sean McGhee. There’s the swirling sadness of “Only You,” but also the steely strength of “Situation,” completed with an additional shading of very adult loss.
This concert recording, due November 10, 2014 via Cooking Vinyl, follows her long-awaited studio comeback the minutes, which represented Moyet’s first new music since 2007 — and her return to the sound that hurtled her to fame on Upstairs at Eric’s. Listeners responded, sending the project to a No. 5 UK debut.
Elsewhere on minutes and seconds – live, Alison Moyet works similar magic on the aforementioned Yaz cuts, as well as key solo songs like “All Cried Out” and selections from her most recent album. Intrigued? Moyet is on the road this month in Europe, and will join with fellow ’80s-era hitmakers Culture Club for a UK arena tour in December.
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